Countries of the World/COUNTRYS.BIN/dp/0226/02262.txt

Text File | 1991-06-25 | 11KB | 334 lines

$Unique_ID{COW02262}
$Pretitle{427}
$Title{Luxembourg
Chapter 3B.   Labour Law, Part 2}
$Subtitle{}
$Author{Board of Economic Development}
$Affiliation{Chamber of Commerce}
$Subject{leave
work
law
labour
day
working
hours
public
workers
case}
$Date{1990}
$Log{Table 13.*0226201.tab
}
Country:     Luxembourg
Book:        Investment in Luxembourg
Author:      Board of Economic Development
Affiliation: Chamber of Commerce
Date:        1990

Chapter 3B.   Labour Law, Part 2

3.3.2. Hours of work

     As a general rule, hours of work are uniformly restricted to 8 hours per
day.

     The working week is a standard one of 40 hours.

     Hours of work are defined by law as the length of time during which the
employee is at the disposal of his employer or, if there is more than one,
his employers.

     Adolescents may only work overtime in certain exceptional circumstances.
In the case of adult workers, the law provides for two systems which are
outside the principles of the normal working week:

Compensatory leave

     Under this arrangement work can continue beyond the normal working day or
week provided that the employee is granted leave equivalent to the hours
worked in excess of the norm.

The cases covered by these provisions include:

     sectoral or technical departures from the rule

     undertakings on continuous operations or organized on a team basis

     seasonal businesses and hotels and

     where there is need to make up for lost time.

Overtime

     Overtime working is, in circumstances restricted to those specially
provided for by law, permitted subject to prior Ministerial consent

     to prevent the loss of perishable goods or avoid endangering the outcome
of highly specialized work

     to enable special work to be completed

     in cases where it is manifestly necessary and the labour market is not
directly affected and

     exceptionally, where the public interest so requires.

     Less rigorous conditions are laid down for certain areas where there is a
notorious shortage of labour and for certain work undertaken to cope with an
emergency or the threat of one.

     The daily maximum is in all cases 10 hours.

     Stricter conditions apply in the case of adolescents. Overtime working
is remunerated on the following basis:

[See Table 13.: Overtime Work]

     The hourly rate is obtained by dividing the employee's monthly wage or
salary by the standard figure of 173 hours.

Transport

     Special provisions apply to hours of work in road transport. EEC
Regulation No 3820/85 of 20 December 1985 prescribes the driving periods
and rest periods for transport drivers. The regulation applies to journeys
between Member States and non-member States as well as journeys between one
Member State and another.

Work on sundays

     Sunday working is in principle forbidden, but the law recognizes three
groups of exception to the rule.

1. Workers

     This group is mainly composed of workers who are close relatives of the
head of the firm, commercial travellers and other itinerant workers, directors
and administrative staff, and road transport crews.

2. Trade and industrial establishments

     Under the law of 21 August 1913, some Sunday working is permitted in
certain establishments, for example:

     retail shops

     establishments engaged on work serving a general public need (e.g.
bakeries, caterers, undertakers, news agents, public baths, hairdressers
and photographers)

     establishments engaged in seasonal trade and welfare and educational
organizations.

     The law also provides for unrestricted Sunday working in certain
establishments, namely

     hotels, restaurants and cafes

     pharmacies, chemists' shops, and drugstore

     travelling shows and places of public entertainment

     gas and electricity undertakings and

     undertakings engaged on continuous processes or a team basis.

3. Work

     The prohibition of Sunday working does not apply to certain kinds of
works, irrespective of the type of establishment.

Among there are:

     security and watch duties

     cleaning and repairing and

     services necessary for the maintenance of regular production.

The reward for Sunday work is on the following basis:

     manual workers: equivalent compensatory leave

     staff: 70 % of the labour rate in addition to compensatory leave or,
alternatively, 170 % of the hourly rate

     adolescents: 200 % of the hourly rate plus compensatory leave.

     Sunday working must, as a general rule, be notified to and authorized by
the Ministry of Labour or the Labour and Mines Inspectorate.

Public holidays

     The Law of 10 April 1976 prescribes the official public holidays and
applies to all persons employed in the private sector. There are ten holidays
in all:

     1. New Year's Day

     2. Easter Monday

     3. 1 May (Labour Day)

     4. Ascension Day

     5. White Monday

     6. 23 June (Luxembourg's national day)

     7. Assumption (15 August)

     8. All Saints' Day (1 November)

     9. Christmas Day (25 December)

     10. Boxing Day (26 December)

     If a public holiday falls on a Sunday, a compensatory day off must be
granted in lieu. The law specifies certain official public holidays which can
be exchanged for an equal number of local or trade holidays.

     An employee who has had to work on an official public holiday is entitled
to receive double his normal rate of pay for that day, irrespective of any
additional payment also due under the law on overtime.

Annual leave

     Under the Law of 22 April 1966 as subsequently amended, all employees in
the private sector receive a standard period of annual leave. This holiday is
set at 25 days, irrespective of the age of the employee. The qualification
for this leave is 3 months' uninterrupted service with the same employer.

     An employer may refuse the leave if the employee has been absent without
good cause for more than 10 % of the time when he should have been at work
during the previous year. Under the law, absence authorized by the employer,
or on account of illness or accident, or during a public holiday or lawful
strike is considered to constitute good cause. The period of annual leave
covers 25 days, regardless of age.

     Extra leave is granted to handicapped workers, mineworkers, and employed
persons whose work does not enable them to have an uninterrupted rest period
of 44 hours per week.

     The law permits the leave period to be split up, but no period of leave
must amount to less than 12 successive working days.

     The general rule is that the employee decides when to take his leave. In
cases where the establishment is closed for annual leave, the period for the
employees' leave must be agreed between them and the employer during the first
three months of the calendar year at the latest.

     In the event of employment being terminated during the calendar year, the
employee is entitled to one-twelfth of the annual leave not yet taken per full
month worked.

Special leave

     A worker who is obliged to absent himself from work for personal reasons
is entitled by law to special leave on full pay. This leave is:

     one day in the case of the death of a second-degree relative
(grandparent, grandchild, brother, sister, brother-in-law or sister-in-law)

     two days for wife's confinement, marriage of child or household removal

     three days in the case of death of spouse or first-degree relative
(parent, father-in-law, mother-in-law, son, daughter, son-in-law,
daughter-in-law) and

     six days for employee's marriage.

Maternity leave

     Maternity leave is governed by the Law of 3 July 1975. It does not
interrupt the contract of service but merely holds it in abeyance during the
whole of the period of enforced absence. The contract comes back into force
when the reason for its suspension cease to exist.

     Maternity leave is in two parts: